Hamilton Nolan

"Consumer packaged goods" is the technical term for everything you buy when you go to "the store" to "get some stuff." For years now, you, the consumer, have been buying less of this stuff. What gives?

From toothpaste to razors to tampons to... pretty much everything you go to Rite Aid for, sales have been on the decline for three years now. Post-recession belt-tightening, or anti-American anti-consumerism at work? From the Wall Street Journal:

People are eating less cereal and drinking less soda. Razorblade sales are down as many men shave less or grow beards. Pre-measured laundry soap capsules and higher-efficiency machines require less detergent. And more people are choosing freshly prepared food over packaged fare...

Americans now devote about 10.8% of their personal expenditures to packaged consumer goods, down from 11.2% in 2000 and 13.7% in 1990

Theories floated in this one single news story to explain this include: online shopping, the recession, unemployment, and aging population, and "cellphone bills." Nowhere is Women Be Shopping mentioned. Coincidence?